Watch and other time instrument



Dec. 3, 1935. v R, J, JQHNSTON 2,023,022

WATCH AND OTHER TIME INSTRUMENT Filed Aug. 6, 1954 m mmmgrulmhili'iliiliilillll llllllllllllllllllll Patented Dec. 3, 1935 WATCHAND OTHER TIME INSTRUMENT Robert J. Johnston, Waterbury, Conn., assignerto The Waterbury Clock Company, Waterbury,

Conn., a corporation Application August 6,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in watches and othertimepieces, and relates in particular to the mechanism and partsassociated with the spring-drive of such instruments.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a superiorconstruction and arrangement of parts to prevent the undesired reverseturning movement of the driving-spring of a watch or the like.

Another object is to provide a simple, reliable and effective pawl whichmay be produced at a low cost for manufacture.

A further object is to provide a time-instrument construction in whichthe driving-spring and associated parts may be assembled anddisassembled with maximum convenience and minimum expenditure of time.

With the above and other objects in View as will appear to those skilledin the art from the following, considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing and appended claims, the present invention includesall the improvements over the prior art disclosed therein.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a watch embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a broken sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a similar View taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a corresponding View taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the pawl, detached.

The particular watch herein chosen for the purpose of illustrating oneembodiment of the present invention, includes a cup-shaped frontmovement-plate I0 having a forwardly and outwardly extending flange I Iand a rear movementplate I2 having `a. cut-out portion I3 lled by abridge-plate I 4 of a shape corresponding to the said cut-out portion.Both the rear movementplate I2 and the bridge-plate I4 are secured inspaced relationship rearwardly of the front movement-plate I8 bysuitable pillars such as I5, each of which latter has threaded into itsrespective opposite ends screws I6 and I1.

The bridge-plate I4 is formed with a bearingopening I8 receiving thereduced rear end of a main-spring arbor I9, the forward end of whichlatter-bears in an opening 20 in the front movement-plate Il! and isprovided with a polygonal front terminal 2l fitting into acorrespondinglyshaped opening 22 in the main Winding-wheel 23 of thewatch resting against the front face of the 1934, Serial N0. 738,584

front movement-plate I0. The arbor I9 mounts a usual spring-barrel 24housing a mainspring 25 and is provided with an annular series of teeth26 constituting the main wheel of the watch movement. 5

The main winding-Wheel 23 before referred to is retained in placeagainst forward axial displacement by a sheet-metal retaining-plate 21referably made of spring stock and having an aperture 28 in itsforwardly-oisetting inner porl0 tion for the clearance of the polygonalforward end 2| of the arbor I9. The edge of the outer end of theretaining-plate 21 is conformed in curvature to the curvature of theinner face of the flange I I of the front movement-plate I0 and l5 isanchored in place by one of the screws I6 before referred to. Byengaging the edge of the retaining-plate 21 with the flange II of thefront movement-plate I0, as described, the same may be rigidly heldagainst shifting movement in the 20 plane of the said plate by means ofa single one of the screws I6 which passes through it.

The main winding-wheel 23 is normally meshed into by a winding-pinion 29carried by an oscillating sheet-metal arm 30 pivotally secured by 25means of a stud 3I to the front face of the front movement-plate I0. Thestud 3| also mounts an intermediate pinion 32 meshing into thewindingpinion 29 just referred to and also into a stempinion 33 and intoa setting-pinion 34, which lat- 30 ter is carried by the arm 30 withfreedom for rotation with respect thereto.

The pinion 33 is carried in a manner usual in watches by a winding andsetting stem 35 carrying at its outer end a knurled finger-button 36 35by means of which the watch is both wound and set in the usual manner ofsuch instruments. The sheet-metal arm 3U is oscillatable about its stud3I in the usual manner of watches to disengage the winding-pinion 29from the main winding-wheel 23 and to concurrently mesh thesetting-pinion 34 with a dial-wheel 31 mounted upon the front face ofthe front movement-plate I0 and meshing in turn with the center-pinion38 45 of the watch, which is mounted in the usual manner on thecenter-arbor 39 thereof.

To prevent the reverse turning movement of the main winding-wheel 23under the urge of the mainspring 25, I employ a one-piece sheet-metal 50pawl preferably of spring stock and generally designated by the numeral40 and comprising a mounting-plate 4I having one of its edges curved asat 42 to conform to and snugly t against the inner face of the flange IIof the front move- 55 ment-plate IU. The mounting-plate 4| of the pawl40 is formed about midway of its length with a perforation 43 throughwhich one of the screws I6 extends to anchor the pawl against forwarddisplacement with respect to the movement-plate HJ, the mounting-platebeing held against swinging movement in the plane of the saidmovement-plate by the conjoint action of the screw I6 passing through itand the engagement of its curved edge 42 with the flange II asdescribed. Bent up from the mounting-plate 4I in a plane perpendicularlywith respect thereto is a resilient pawl-arm 44, the extreme outer edge45 of which is adapted to engage the teeth of the main winding-wheel 23in such position as to prevent the movement of the said wheel in thedirection of the arrow A (Fig. l), i. e., the direction opposite to thedirection in Which the said wheel moves when being wound. The outer endof the arm 44 of the pawl V4i) is stepped or shouldered as at 46, whichstep may ride upon the forward face of the front movement-plate ladjacent a clearance-opening 41 therein. The extreme outer end of theresilient pawl-arm 44 is further stepped inwardly toward the plate l asat 48 to insure a proper amount of edge-surface 45 for engagement withthe wheel 23, despite slight variations in manufacture or slightdistortion of the parts. The stepped orv projecting portion 48 of thepawl-arm 44 extends rearwardly into the clearance-opening 4l in theVmovement-plate i0, as indicated in Fig. 4.

The pawl-arm 44 extends substantially parallel with the adjacent edge ofthe retainingplate 2l, which edge serves to assist in supporting thesaid pawl-arm against the strains imposed upon it by the constant effortof the main winding wheel 23 to reversely turn under the urge of themainspring 25.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than that hereinset forth Without departing from the spirit and essentialcharacteristics of the invention, and the present embodiment is,therefore, to .be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, and all changes coming Within the meaning and equivalencyrange of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. In a time instrument, the combination with a driving-spring thereof;of a movementplate having a laterally-offsetting flange; a toothed wheeloperatively connected to the said driving-spring and urged in onedirection thereby; and a sheet-metal pawl having a mountingplateabutting against the inner face of the laterally-offsetting iiange ofthe said movementplate, and also having a resilient arm formed integralwith the said mounting-plate and bent therefrom into a planeperpendicular to the plane of the said mounting-plate, the saidresilient arm engaging the said toothed wheel to guard against theturning movement thereof under the urge of the said driving-spring.

2. In a time instrument, the combination With a driving-spring thereof;of a movement-plate having a laterally-offsetting flange; a toothedwheel operatively connected to the said drivingspring and urged in onedirection thereby; a retaining-member holding the said toothed wheelagainst axial displacement; and a sheetmetal pawl Vhaving amounting-plate abutting against the inner face of thelaterally-offsetting ange of the said movement-plate and having also aresilient arm formed integral with the said mounting-plate and benttherefrom into a plane perpendicular to the plane of the saidmounting-plate, the said resilient arm engaging theV said toothed Wheelto guard against the turning movement thereof under the urge of the saiddriving-spring and also engaging the said retaining-member for beingsupported thereby.

3. In a time instrument, the combination with a driving-spring thereof;of a movement-plate having a laterally-offsetting flange and also havinga clearance-opening; a toothed wheel operatively connected to the saiddriving-spring and urged in one direction thereby; and a sheetmetal pawlhaving a yielding arm engaging the said toothed wheel, and also having aportion abutting against the inner face of the laterallyoifsettingflange of the said movement-plate, the said yielding arm of the saidsheet-metal pawl having an offsetting projection entered into theclearance-opening in the said movement-plate. ROBERT J. JOHNSTON..

